Chicago Booth 2011 Taking Questions

cannedpineapple

windboy> The idea of comparative advantage is an important one. You implied it here: "for some one who is really into making a living solely out of professional network in the form of "leadership" etc, and to a less extend into technical skills, chicago may not be your top choice if you are lucky to get offers from other top schools."

There is obviously truth to this statement. However, most people apply this logic and come to the following extreme conclusion: "that if I'm not technical, I don't belong at Chicago." In fact the truth is, you need both in order to be successful. A person with hard skills but no soft skills can never hope to get his point across; a person with soft skills but no hard skills can never hope to make an accurate, well-grounded decision. But you obviously know this. And so does Chicago. In fact, a case might be said for taking a group of technically inclined people, and giving them what they lack, so that they may be better equipped to succeed in the world (which as you note, is the point of all business skills): soft skills.

So for instance, I had gone to Chicago to study economics, but quickly discovered that its sociology, english, anthropoly, and other 'soft' discipline departments were also the best in the world. Most people don't realise this, and use a simple interpretation of 'comparative advantage' to explain that Chicago must simply cater to the technical.

Having said that, there is certainly truth to comparative advantage, which is why I too wrote, in my last sentence, that "If you don't like this intellectual approach to everything, you may be better off elsewhere."

I was simply pointing out that most people take the idea of comparative advantage too far, and pigeon-hole us into one ('technical') way of training leaders. This is inaccurate.

vivi72

想问一下治安是不是真的那么可怕，特别对于女生来说。

cannedpineapple

I lived in Hyde Park for two years. It is a black neighbourhood, but it is not dangerous. After all, it is a place where people spend $50,000 a year to go to study with the brightest minds in the world, and a place where President Obama owns a house and once lived- how dangerous could it be, if these people continue to go? There are certain areas we are told not to go, but within the confines of the school itself, we are remarkably, remarkably safe, and we have a very large private police force to ensure that.

vivi72

jason.thanks a lot~

cannedpineapple

Sample UChicago (NOT Chicago Booth) essay for 'why UChicago' here.

http://forum.chasedream.com/North_American_MBA/thread-429418-3-1.html

faridahchen

我也申请了今年booth第二轮。我想请问一下，GMAT的成绩只有700是不是基本不可能被考虑了呢？我的工作时间有3年多了，在国有商业银行海外机构工作，一开始的时候参与了对该国当地银行的收购，这也是中国银行业第一次海外银行收购，之后在投行及公司业务部工作到现在有2年了。托福成绩是108。

cannedpineapple

While the average GMAT last year was 714, 80% of applicants had scores that were as low as 660, and as high as 760. Which means that 10% had scores below 660 and still got in. The school also says this: "The admission committee evaluates each application in a holistic manner, as we value the diverse experiences and accomplishments each student brings to the Chicago Booth community. Therefore, we do not have minimum requirements for GPA or GMAT scores. View the class profile in more detail."

Just because you see many people posting here with high scores, doesn't mean it's a requirement for admission. More important than the score itself, adcom looks out for your breakdown- especially for international students- in order to be sure that you can handle both the math and the verbal/logical rigour of the curriculum.

topmba2009

jason.thanks a lot~

-- by 会员 vivi72 (2009/12/29 10:13:00)

vivi72> are you not going to take your current offer and instead trying Booth ?

faridahchen

jason,依你说的整体背景，还有能够给booth带来什么更加重要，那推荐信重要吗，比如我能够找到中国驻我工作国家的商务参赞帮我写推荐信，does that help? a little bit? 推荐人对我肯定是比较了解了，也认识我2年多了。

cannedpineapple

More important than who he is, is what he has to say. If you find someone great who has no time to write anything beyond "This guy is fantastic" and doesn't provide examples, then that doesn't help. Having someone at a higher level write a recommendation is sometimes a good thing because he can provide a perspective that someone working with you can't. That being said, bosses/recommenders, especially when they're too high up, tend to 'miss out' on who you are as a person because they don't work closely with you.

So, again, more important than who he is, is what he has to say.